Roll of Thunder
by Bronzemoon
Summary: Being a Shadow Lord is great isn't it?
1. Chapter 1 The Great Day

Roll of Thunder

It was going to be a great day! Aturus strutted around Central Park with a feral smile on his lips, things had been going well for him and today it just got better as the day had gone along. He woke up alone, which was wonderful because it meant that the woman he had brought home had seen fit to leave on her own and not wake him for some sappy good bye and asked for promises of phone calls. He had summoned a not so minor luck spirit and forced it to bind with his will for the next eight days, every time he needed for something to happen, he would have the luck spirit to draw upon to make sure it went his way. He was slated for a mission to Scar and figured a bit of insurance couldn't hurt. Mind you he was very certain of his own skills, but when walking into Wyrm laden territory, nothing was to be taken lightly and he decided to have the scales tip in his direction. Thinking about his soon upcoming victory made him want to pat his own back. How could this day not be great?

Aturus smiled even wider as he thought about his extra-ordinary cunning and charismatic style. Most Garou had to ask the spirits for a favor, however, that did not quite sit right with Aturus, after all, he was a Shadow Lord and unlike some of the weaker tribes, he very much felt that since he was doing Gaia's calling he deserved the spirits services when he asked for them. Not to mention had already proven his worth many times over, he had managed to live the ripe old age of thirty-two without losing any major body parts that might take away from his attractive physique, he was Alpha in his pack, he was fairly wealthy and he had his choice of women where ever he went. He was one of the Chosen and lived his life like it. He recalled how he had summoned the luck spirit with ease; surely Father Thunder was smiling on him and must approve of his methods. Privately and in the quiet of his own mind Aturus felt a strong bond with his totem, his own Garou name was Thunderous Fury's Might – to which his pack called him Thunder as a nickname. Though he would never breathe a word to anyone else, Aturus very much liked having his Garou name sound so much like his totem's name. It rather made him feel like he was on par and that was a heady feeling on days like today.

Aturus had figured he would have had to promise something stupid and sappy in return for the favor he was demanding, but his glib tongue worked magic that morning. When he and his pack went to Scar, the spirit would give him the best of luck; making sure that each hit would be true and deadly. Luck would help him to target the most deadly of the Wyrm creatures and banes and take them out first. Aturus' point of pride was that he made sure that this spiritual assistance during the quest was known to be the spirit's duty just as it was Aturus' duty to fight the Wyrm where it dwelled. Thus he was confident about the upcoming battle and planned to make sure every single garou in the sept knew about his grandeur.

He continued to strut around, pleased with himself. He was supposed to be surveying the brawn for and pockets of weakness. He never agreed with the surveying issue but the Warder of the Sept thought it necessary, so he did it, it was easier than actually having to fight. He was almost paying attention to what he was doing when he saw Wyrm's Demise, his pack Beta, running toward him. The stupid smile on his face was from ear to ear, and made Aturus wonder if the Glass Walker had died on a mission or something.

"Thunder! I have news about the rescued Cliath!" Wyrm's Demise said running full tilt and then having to pause for breath when he finally made it to his Alpha's side but still gave a devious smile.

"Go on." Aturus said dryly, schooling his face into a calm mask of non concern.

"She belongs to us! Where she came from we still do not know, but she is a Shadow Lord." Wyrm's Demise said with a laugh. "The Glass Walker's protections and dictates no longer apply."

Aturus nodded, apparently luck was already starting to work, his brain jumped on the train of thought that he now was in charge and allowed himself a small hard smile. Living at the Sept of the Green had meant living on a Sept where the tribes were mixed out of necessity. Since he and his pack had moved there almost four years ago, Aturus had learned to stomach the stench of the Bone Gnawers, the sheer ignorance from the Children of Gaia and the very austere Weaver influenced Glass Walkers. That did not even come close to meaning that he liked any of them – just that he had learned how to make the best of the situation until he could take over leadership. He had maneuvered himself into an Elder position and was working to become Sept leader; it was just taking more time than he thought.

His hackles raised out of reflex, knowing that he was merely third in command. That wouldn't be so bad, except that he was outranked by a long haired hippie Child of Gaia and even worse the Sept was run by a techno freak Glass Walker. Aturus had butted heads with the Glass Walker from the first – but had not been able to justify taking leadership from him, yet. His lip curling, Aturus still found it to be contrived that the Glass Walker had managed to insinuate himself in for the seat of power after the Bitch Bone Gnawer died. As if that was not bad enough, the Glass Walker had found a lost cub. Not only was mass amounts of wisdom given to the freak, but he had even taken the little Bitch on as a mentee. Normally the term Bitch was not an insult, Garou were lupine creatures so was often used interchangeably with girl or woman. However being born and raised in a very human family, Aturus used the term as such.

The lost cub turned out to be Fianna and much to Aturus disdain she came from a well off family in the city, and not only that but she had Pure Breed in her lineage. She pranced around the Park like she owned it, was disrespectful to the Elders and in general acted like a spoiled rich bitch. Aturus had tried twice already to put her in her place, however her mentor interceded every time and she was let off with nothing more than a warning. Because of this, she dared to taunt Aturus. She flounced around, waving her protections in his face at every chance. She had even adopted the found Cliath and with the Sept leaders permission was "rehabilitating" the girl. The story was that the Fianna Bitch and the lost Cliath had been abducted by the Black Spirals because they were pregnant and the Spirals wanted their babies. A hunting party was mounted to find the Fianna and when found she insisted that the other girl be brought back because she was a victim as well, and of course because she was the Glass Walker's charge- it was done.

Despite the fact that Aturus had suffered a wound at the girl's hand he had not been able to touch her. At the Elder's meeting he insisted that she be turned over to him to at least get some answers when the minor altercation happened. He had been interrogating her (albeit somewhat harshly) when he had become distracted by the Beta Child of Gaia, there by having to take his attention off his prisoner. The girl had managed to give him a glancing blow, and no further mention was made of the altercation, it made sense to him now that he had found out she was a Shadow Lord. He finally became aware that the buzzing in his ear was Wyrm's Demise still prattling off about something.

"Find the Cliath. Bring her to our meeting room, if the Fianna gives you any trouble you have my permission to put her in her place. This is Shadow Lord business and the protections placed upon the Cliath by the Glass Walker are now null and void. She answers to me!" Aturus snapped out, stilling the conversation from his Beta.

"When should I gather her up?" Wyrm's asked, aware of the tone his Alpha was taking and refusing to become a target just then.

"Whenever you wish. I have a business meeting to attend to. I'll be back in a few hours. Have her ready by then, it is time she join her proper tribe." Aturus said, already turning away and walking towards the street.

Like many other Garou, Aturus had to live in the world of man as well as the real world. Meaning he had to have some source of income. Actually he had been the President of a string of successful businesses and knew himself to be quite savvy, since after her had sold off those businesses for a profit, they had tanked. Of course that had everything to do with the jackass that had "taken them over". While Aturus was in charge they were successful, when they were taken over they failed. His first business venture had been a medical billing third party office. Before his first change he had gone from job to job, never sure what he wanted to do but very sure that he was destined to be in charge and not some lackey for the rest of his life. He had taken the medical billing job because it seemed to be easy and paid well. He was certain to make sure he became the boss's right hand man, taking over billing and collections. After a few months Aturus was taken into the "inner circle" and learned the real business; How to double bill under different codes and pocket the duplicate refund checks, as well as how to charge "processing fees" to the patient and medical offices and take that too. Funny how fate works, but because he was dealing with not so honest people, Aturus learned he was Garou. He was set up to take the fall with a loan shark his boss owed. Supposedly he was making a payment, what really happened was that he was given fake money to deliver and when he found out he was going to be used as a warning. Unfortunately for the men who tried to jump him, he ended up being Garou. Like most first changes he really didn't remember what happened, but he did know that he was alive, the others were dead and he was super pissed at being set up.

As a point of pride his father had put a spirit watcher on him and when he came into his own, his absentee father came to find him. Aturus was told all about the Garou nation and where the Shadow Lords fit into it. They were the natural leaders, some called them arrogant, but it's not being arrogant when you are really good at what you do. After the quick father – son bonding time, Aturus went back to his life in the city. He took over the billing business, simply walked in one day and took over. He had never had a problem with being physically intimidating and now knowing he was damn near invincible, he used it to every advantage he could come up with. He took over the billing practice and ran it smoothly for almost ten years before the IRS had gotten wind of his operation. He quickly recruited a rather thick headed but beefy young man (Tony) to act as manager. He sold him the business for a rather large profit, well total profit since he had never paid for anything himself, and moved on. Next was an escort service. It started small but ballooned up quickly and did well for almost five years, until yet again the IRS stepped in. He "let" the same stupid young man take over just as the Fed's were coming in to do an investigation. Aturus laughed for months about that one, the young man had strong armed his way in, stealing computers and lists of clients and girls, just to have the Federal Agents seize his properties and assets not a few months later. Of course during this time Aturus had bought a few delis and bakeries, venturing out in the food business. However with all the codes and regulations and nonsense he decided it wasn't even close to being worth the effort and let dear Tony buy it from his corporation. Some time later he heard that Tony was under investigation for the deli burning down.

So now he was onto a pyramid style business. Some people called it a scheme and in his case it was exactly true. Most people who had a pyramid style business sold something, whether it was cleaning products, cheaper gas, phone time or something tangible that people could understand. The beauty of Aturus' business is that it was purely in the business of getting people to pay a processing fee to sign up to be a representative. Of course on paper it looked like they were timeshare leasing representatives, but the real money was made as you got other people interested in becoming a representative. All it took was $500 and you took a small test to become qualified. The real hook was that you were paid a percentage for each person you brought in. Of course being the President of the company meant Aturus got about thirty percent from every person there – including the members of his pack that he signed on to be the three vice –president representatives.

He hailed a taxi, using a bit of luck to make sure it was clean, fast and the driver had no desire to talk to him and then spent the better part of three hours cajoling, impressing, daring and intimidating new people into joining his little business. He used a bit more luck in his efforts and all in all he probably gained forty new people which meant about fourteen thousand dollars for the day. Not a bad day's work. He went to his favorite bistro, once again drawing on a bit of luck for quick and premier seating and had a large sumptuous dinner of rare (three seconds on each side to sear in flavor) filet mignon and then as he sat back and enjoyed a few cool frosty ales and contemplated how to deal with the new Cliath. He supposed he might as well learn her name since she would be his, and tried to plan her new regime of learning for the next few days. Eyes narrowing at no one in particular he thought about all of the un-training he would have to do. The Fianna no doubt put some ideas in her head and those would have to be erased. He almost laughed when he thought about just how heart broken the Fianna would be when her new playmate was taken from her and turned against her.

With a yawn and a stretch Aturus stood up, flipped a few bills on the table and strolled out. He really needed to go into his office and hammer out some paperwork, but spring had just started and after the nasty weather they had been suffering with, he just wanted to stretch his legs. He turned to exit the restaurant and took on a haughty attitude as the maitre'd bowed and scraped as he exited. He flipped tips around to everyone pleased at their genuflection of him. He felt quite in the role of the king in his silk Armani suit and hand sewn Malaysian shirt.

He hailed a taxi (again using some luck, he figured that it should get used to being called up) and instructed the driver to go faster; he offered him a larger tip if he was home as quick as possible. He didn't mind the red lights that were run and in fact felt like laughing; having a bit of luck on his side made his feelings of invincible ten fold. He reached his home in Brooklyn went into his brownstone. He had spent thousands of dollars to increase the size of his home. A huge tower sat beside the house, and boasted one wall of windows. He had used up the entire backyard, but since he didn't go in it anyhow he didn't see the problem. The expensive marble and hardwood floors gleamed for the days' cleaning as did the rest of his house and he smiled at the sheer opulence around him. He stripped naked, and strode to the shower, he was never quite sure if the neighbors could see through his windows, but decided if they could tonight they would be getting a treat. The hot water sluicing over him did much to relax and soothe him and after a good half hour, he stepped out into a steamy room and toweled dry. He chose a tailored jogging suit that detailed his finely honed physique and readied to leave the house. He opted to drive back to the Park, it was getting late and parking should be easier to find. A smile started to again crease his lips when he thought about the havoc he was about to cause and the fact that it was his right.

He was parked in front of his house, in his designated space and then some. He had a nice car and therefore refused to risk anyone scratching it or denting it, he even went so far as to paint lines for his car and made sure everyone knew not to try to park in front of his house. The first time some young hot head tried to get loud with him Aturus let just enough of his Rage to seep through his homid visage to give the guy nightmare's about what might be coming for him in the dark, that the man had packed up his family and moved not two weeks later. He had never had a problem since; in fact he left his car unlocked just in case he wanted a reason to go fight, but his neighbors weren't crazy and gave him the wide berth that he liked. He wrapped luck around him like a cloak and let loose, he drove like an ass hole the whole way to the Park. He swerved around cars on the bridge, cut people off, braked hard and fast and ran a few red lights. He felt like the king of the world when he got out of the car, he had found a great parking space close by and no one else was near and he strutted proudly into the park.


	2. Chapter 2 The End of the Great Day

It was dusk and the sunset across the newly budding trees was just magnificent. He didn't often stop and admire nature but when he did, he was always all the more impressed at what Gaia could do with such a citified area. He howled his identification and walked in towards the cottage to find out if anything was needed of him. It wasn't, in fact the Glass Walker had his pack in some sort of meeting, so with a grin and a swagger he went out to find newest member.

He gathered up his pack and the four of them strode out to find the girl. Isabella, he corrected his thoughts. Now that she was his, he should learn her name. Pausing to ask where to find her – actually it was a demand he wasn't asking anyone for anything today and he learned that she was at Turtle Pond, so the four of them walked off to find her. Aturus was happy to see that she was alone, no Fianna Bitch near her, and he walked up to her. The one minor problem they had was that she didn't quite speak English. No matter he spoke to her in Garou- a growl type of speech, which she seemed to understand readily enough. He told her to stand up and follow them so he could begin to teach her about hew new place in the sept when a hard female voice stopped him.

"She is my responsibility until Rhya says otherwise."

He turned to see the Fianna standing in the near shadow of a tree. He knew she had not been there before and curled his lip at the gift from her totem. She stepped out towards them, no fear in her eyes despite the fact that she was only Cliath and that she was surrounded by four large, grown men. He stepped out of his group, pulled a bit of luck energy to seem even more intimidating and got up into her face.

"She is Shadow Lord and no longer your concern pup!" he snapped at her.

He might have admired the way the Fianna stood up to him, if he didn't despise the sight of her. He was hoping she might do something brash enough to warrant a beat down. It was time she learned who was in charge and how rank worked. She looked up into his eyes, gave him a small nasty smile and then put her arms around the other girl's shoulders and started to lead her away. Aturus was dumb founded for almost a minute.

"Where do you think you are going?" he demanded.

"To the cottage to speak to Rhya 404." She said, not even bothering to look over her shoulder at him. "You know the Sept leader? Your boss?"

"There is no need. She is Shadow Lord and therefore mine to worry about. You can go up to the cottage yourself if you have questions. She stays with us." Aturus said, rankled at her attitude.

"Absolutely not!" she spat, whirling around to face him. "It was decided at the last meeting that she needed a keeper, and I was appointed the job. Not by you but by Rhya 404! That means she stops being _my_ responsibility when _he_ says so. Now if you don't' mind, we are going up to the cottage to speak to my mentor."

Only the fact that he was very aware that his pack was watching his every move forced Aturus out of his shocked daze and moved him towards her. His fingers itched to wind around her neck and choke the life from her. He stepped up and pried Isabella away from the Fianna Bitch and began to drag his newest charge away with him. He gathered more luck essence around him to emanate his power and control.

"We can either go up to cottage to discuss this with the Elders," she sneered knowing that she was excluding him from that group. "Or she stays with me. When you are in charge I have to listen to you, not until that point!"

"I _am_ your Elder pup! You had better start listening now unless you would like it beat into your head." He snapped pulling Isabella towards him. "Just because the Glass Walker licks your ass doesn't mean the rest of the Elders will. Be happy he champions you or else you would be dead by now."

He stopped in surprise when the girl pulled Isabella toward her and glared at him.

"Apparently you did not hear me. We either take this before the Elder's or she stays with me until I am told otherwise." The Fianna said, trying to shield Isabella with her own body. "As for dying, why should I be threatened to someone who gets cut with his own sword?"

Aturus was done playing; he backhanded her without a second thought and nodded with a satisfied smile when a small trickle of blood showed at the corner of her mouth. She calmly wiped her mouth and gave him a snide smile. She knew she was getting to him – he had almost convinced himself that Isabella had nicked him instead of admitting that she had snatched his klaive from his waist and cut him good. He did not want to waste the time in explaining anything more. He stood a step forward in a very menacing manner, and reached up to backhand her again as his pack surrounded the girls. He would have spent more time admiring the way he and his pack moved as one, but the Fianna deflected his blow with one hand and reached out, tapped him on the chest with the other, and he promptly fell to the ground unable to move. His muscles had no strength; he couldn't even lift his head off the ground. He had to stare up in embarrassment as the girl braced herself to fight his pack.

Aturus was the biggest, standing 6'2 and very much resembled a body builder. He was proud that people acknowledge his build. Wyrm's Demise was his Beta, and stood 6 foot. He was built like a football linebacker and was as solid as a brick wall. Menacing Attack was the third in the group, also standing at 6' tall. He had forearms like tree trunks and routinely made a show of picking up taxis in traffic because he could. Killing Blow's made the group four and was the shortest at 5'10. He often tried to pass off being 6' but never quite managed to convince anyone. He was as solid as the rest of the pack, hands like huge hams and no neck of which to speak. All in all The Mighty Attacking Blows, as they called their pack, were some big, mean and very solid men.

Hence Aturus being knocked to the ground, by a tap of a finger from a little girl, shocked him. He watched the Fianna take up a defensive posture as his pack began to move and prepared to attack his pack. Isabella leapt onto Menacing Attack's back in one swift move seemingly out of nowhere. Somewhere between the ground and his back she pulled out something, and began to garrote the man as soon as she latched onto him. She was like a burr that couldn't be removed. Menacing Attack turned in circles trying to reach her from every angle possible as she merely held on letting gravity work for her.

Mean while, Wyrm's Demise and Killing Blows had flanked the Fianna Bitch. If Aturus could have, he would have winced in sympathy. She turned with speed and grace and caught Wyrm's Demise squarely between the legs. Garou or not, when your manly parts were kicked into your gut it hurt! Killing Blows stepped up and punched her straight on the cheek, which she shook off with a glare before kicking him between the legs too. Aturus tried to lean up, she caught the slight movement and landed a solid blow from the heel of her foot to his chin and his head snapped back.

'_The world must be ending. Or maybe I'm just not really here._' Aturus thought and concentrated on trying to stand. He half expected to look up and see a purple sky or the moon strung like a balloon. Those events were far more likely to happen than one small girl, still in homid form, single handedly beating up his pack.

Meanwhile, Isabella hung on tightly while Menacing Attack turned a sickly shade of blue, a loud rasping indicating just how hard it was for him to breathe. She looked over to Aturus with a snide smile and went back to choking his pack mate.

The Fianna geared up for round two, stopping Wyrm's Demise in his attack with another solid kick between his legs, he actually fell over, facing turning various shades of purple and gasping, much to Aturus' disgust and shame. Wyrm's Demise appeared to have passed out, which the stupid little girl didn't even take time to notice. She missed her kick to Killing Blows, but that did no good as the man shifted to Galarbo snatched her up and tried to choke her. To break his grip she merely dropped downward, letting her weight and gravity break his hold and stepped back. Before Killing Blows could even think, her foot snapped forward and kicked him in the throat and he stumbled back a few steps gasping. Aturus finally was able to stand, the effect of _Falling Touch_ wearing off rapidly. He pulled his klaive from its scabbard, ever present on his back while in the Park, and swung at her with everything he had.

He should have been mortified at the thought of using it against another Garou, but this was war and the Bitch was going down, he wanted to look into her eyes as he struck the killing blow. In reality, he swung and hit the tree behind her embedding the sword deeply into the trunk, which he tugged at and couldn't move. More to his surprise another Garou popped out of the shadows, literally, just under the blade of the sword. It was the Fianna Bitch's pack mate, the loopy Child of Gaia. Her timing had made him sick; she was kneeling just under the blade which should have cut her in half and calmly assembled something. Meanwhile the Fianna Bitch had jumped up and landed on the pommel and quillons of the sword, which should not have been possible. She kicked out with her foot and caught him in the throat and finishing her round house, caught Killing Blow's with the tip of her foot, in the eye.

Time slowed to crawl and the world took on a surreal quality. The Fianna Bitch used his klaive, the one that he had fought so hard for, as a spring board, propelled her self up and over him leap frog style. As her hands touched his shoulder to steady her as she passed over him, he felt a slight tingle as his legs refused to hold his weight anymore he knew she had used _Falling Touch _him again. As he fell he watched her leap forward, knee bent and burry it into Killing Blow's forehead. He hit the ground face first, because his hands didn't have enough strength to lift from his side to stop it, and heard a loud crack and then the sounds of another man falling.

He managed to flop over onto his stomach; he could see Menacing Attack kneeling on the ground, Isabella still garroting him. Wyrm's Demise was curled in the fetal position on the ground and Killing Blows was laid out on his back, face covered in blood. As he watched a sick feeling filled the pit of his stomach as he saw the Fianna Bitch eye his sword and then walk towards it and try to pull it from the tree. She gave it a good yank and managed to move it slightly, but it was still embedded. A red haze covered his eyes and he no longer felt limp. She was giving it another mighty tug when he realized he did have the strength to stand, and did so. With a furious snarl he placed his hand on top of the pommel.

"I believe this belongs to me." He snapped and began to move to kill her for touching it.

A low wail that seeped into his bones stopped him in his tracks. The melody wound its way into his brain and shut off all aggression. He could have cursed in frustration, but the music wouldn't let him. It soothed him, made him calm and peaceful. He knew the Child of Gaia had something to do with it. These girls and their gift could drive a man crazy, unless of course you were under the thrall of the music that mellowed you into non- thought. He sickened as he watched The Child of Gaia get her pack mate and then walk over and take Isabella in tow. The trio of girl's looked small and dainty and dammit how was it even possible that they could have just beaten his pack? It wasn't possible- there was no way it could happen!

Aturus gathered his pack mates up. They looked pitiful; Menacing Attack had a thin trickle of blood around his neck where the garrote had been, but at least color was coming to his face. Killing Blows had a huge lump on his forehead that was split by a pressure wound that still bled rather freely. Wyrm's Demise was still red in the face and limped gingerly. It was doubtful he would ever have children. Aturus had taken the least physical damage but that meant nothing.

"This isn't over!" he snapped at the retreating forms of the girls.

The Fianna turned around and stared at him, her lips quirking.

"We'll be at the cottage talking with Rhya 404 if you need anything." She held his gaze never wavering. "I would say it is _quite_ over."

She walked backwards, until the heat of his eyes (or the slope of the hill) finally made her turn and continue her walk away. At least he hadn't been outstared by the pup. Growling, he turned sharply on his heel and began to walk back to his car, with his pack meekly following behind him. Nothing was said, no one was daring his anger, and everyone was just trying to forget. However it was a very small caern and it was a matter of time before word got around.

Even as Aturus looked over his shoulder to watch the girls, another was watching him. Through time and mystic nature of the umbra two spirits sat side by side smiling. It was a most amusing show. The luck spirit sat on the left a wide grin splitting his pixie face. He didn't like to be duped and was glad that one of the Greats had deigned to grant him this favor. Father Thunder sat on the right, despite his title the totem more resembled a model from Abercrombie and Fitch rather than some craggy old man – well as much as an umbral totem could. He looked at the small spirit.

"Well what do you think?" Father Thunder asked.

"I think that he might not understand that one should not abuse the gifts of the spirits. But it was very amusing to watch." The Luck Spirit said. "Luck is a gift not something to hail the noisy yellow monsters with."

"Maybe we'll have to give him another lesson." Father Thunder said. "As for now I have other matters to attend to."

The spirit nodded and dissipated. Father Thunder stood and looked over the shadowy figure of Aturus. His eyes darkened and became the deepest pools of black. He did not like the fact that one of his children dared to think he was equal. He allowed the Garou name because he found the homage quaint, now that he knew what Aturus really thought discipline was in order. No one stood so low before a totem and dared to look into their eyes as if equal. Luck was not to be had for those who dared to challenge their Gods.


End file.
